When I was newly entrenched in my house in the middle of nowhere, Africa, a young man came to visit me. He had a lot of questions about America and alluded to a great divide in American society. I was curious about this, as I can think of many real chasms: rich/poor, black/white, urban/rural, etc. But what would a young man with no access to TV, movies, or books know about American society? The divide and conflict he identified: East Coast/West Coast.

While this throwback to early 90’s rap made me laugh (though the young man seemed to take it quite seriously), I think there is some truth to a genuine divide in experiences of LDS youth growing up in the U.S. I was recently reminded of this when a friend that had grown up in the west was telling me how hard European LDS youth had it, and each example she gave mirrored my own experience as a youth in the east and those of all the youth in our current ward; she seemed to have assumed that all LDS youth in the U.S. had grown up much as she had. For the sake of this post, I am going to place all of the U.S. east of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico in the East Coast column and all of the U.S. west of that line in the West Coast camp.

I think there are some experiences pretty widely held in the Eastern, non-majority Mormon U.S. Here are some:

EAST COAST
o Likely to have been the only or one of a handful of Mormons in your high school
o Ward covered several high schools and even school districts
o Church Friends and School Friends two distinct groups
o Likely to have dated a non-Mormon
o Likely to have had good friends of many faiths
o May have had a hard time finding a “modest” formal dress for school functions
o Made a choice at some point to disengage from sports or musical extracurricular activities in order to keep the Sabbath OR, chose to continue participation and regularly “break” the Sabbath
o You were the only Mormon your friends knew, so however you practiced your faith was interpreted as the norm
o Likely to have held leadership positions within the Church youth program
o Likely to view any Mormon as something of a kindred spirit
o Probably had some “missionary moments” both taken and not

Basically, kids who grow up in the east, experience life as religious “others” and adapt. Those who thrive spiritually in this environment tend to be comfortable being considered different. Going west for school or for jobs can be disconcerting, others might feel it is something of a “homecoming” to be among people who share their faith, and certainly some become disillusioned once they see a wider variation of the practice of Mormonism, including perceived intolerance.

As for the other side:

WEST COAST
o Many school-mates were also Mormon
o Might have had students from many wards or stakes represented in your school
o Church Friends and School Friends had significant over-lap
o Likely to have had lots of LDS dating options
o Less likely to have had close friends of other faiths
o Availability of mom-approved formal-wear
o Critical mass in community allowed most extra-curricular activities to be scheduled on days other than Sundays
o Mormon peers ran spectrum from inactive to Molly Mormon/Peter Priesthood types; non-Mormons had many examples of your faith
o May not have held leadership position in Church youth programs
o A person’s Mormon status not particularly valued–just another shared interest, but not a particularly binding one
o Has perhaps not had to answer any non-Mormons questions about Church

It seems that much less understanding or tolerance of other faiths is required in this situation. It is possible that kids who have grown up being accepted as one of many in a peculiar religion have a harder time if they come east.

I consider myself an East Coaster, and the experience was a perfect fit for me. Although I elected to attend BYU in Provo specifically to sample life among the Mormons, I decided it was not for me and hope not to go back. That said, I think many people thrive as West Coast Mormons. Perhaps we all have a tendency to prefrence our own background.

I wonder if you have ever noticed these sorts of differences? What are other common experiences of East Coasters and West Coasters? What experience might you choose for your children (you know, if you had total control over your future)?